Connecter socket for electric plugs



CONNECTER SOCKET FOR ELECTRIC PLUGS Filed' Sept. 5, 1921 wmf Inf/62%?- i Patented Dec. 1o, 1929 Ni'rnn STATES? PATENT OFFICE THEODQRE C. SMITH, F PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA CONNECTER SOCKET FOB ELECTRIC PLUGS I Application iledhseptember 3, 1921. Serial No. 498,345.

- a or cords for cooperation with contact members or terminals of sad irons, electric stoves and other similar electrical appliances and is adapted to tit di'erently shaped terminals such as round, fiat or square as Well as termiio nals of different sizes.

t Another object of the invention is to pro vide a socket contact member which when in engagement with a complementary contact member or terminal will engage the same i5 alongl the entire length of that portion of the complementary contact member or terminal which is within the socket contact member thereby greatly increasing` the `contact sur- :tace over such devices in use at the present time, it being understood that generally two of such socket contact members are located within a casing,r or housing of insulating material in such manner as to permit limited movements of said socket contact members for the reception of terminal members which may be out of parallelism or which have variable distances between centers.

Another object of the invention is to, provide a socket contact member consisting of 3G three principal parts which are movable laterally toward and away from each other intov parallelism.

Another object of the invention is to provide three separate contact elements all of which cooperate and to provide resilient means' superimposed thereon to unite the parts and normally force them toward each other.

A further object of the invention is to prot@ yvide a socket contact member in the form of a clamp having a virtually stationary clement and two eoacting movable elements the latter being fulcrumed on the former so as to have a limited sliding hinge like movement whereby the contact surfaces of said elements will `cooperate with terminals of ditl'erent shapes thus making the socket contact member universal in its application to such terminals. Another principal object of the invention is to lproduce a contact member in which the electrical conducting elements are of one metal' preferably high' in electrical conductivity, such as copper or brass and a s ring element of diiere'nt metal preferably high in 55 spring quality.

This is a new and novel construction 'of a contact member and very important due to the fact that such articles require constant spring pressure on contact and the known 00 metals which are high in electrical conductivity arelow in spring action. The metals high in electrical conductivity may have stili ness, but not spring qualities andthis stiffness `may be lost by the annealing process of 05 heat generated by the electrical device such as an electrical iron on which these are used. A metal high-in spring quality such as tool steel spring tempered will not be annealed by the lower heat of such electrical device.`

Another principal object of the invention is to provide a contact member in which the electrical conducting element is moved into contact position rather than bentinto contact position.

Another principal object of the invention is to provide a contact member in which the axes of movement of the contact and spring elements lie in parallel position with the axis of the coactingcontact member. This will 30 produce contact on the full length of an inserted coacting contact member even though the contact member be of dilferent shapes or sizes. i

Still another object of the invention is to provide al jack-receiving socket, wherein the axis of movement of the contact surface of one ot the contact elementsis approximately parallel to the fiat portion of said contact surface, or is approximately parallel to the axis of insertion of the inserted jack.

A stillfurther object of the invention is to provide an integral nut housing as a part of the socket contact member thereby supplying the desired threaded surface for a binding screw without increasing the thickness ot the metal from which the socket contact member is produced.

Other objects and applications of my invcntion, as well as details of construction and ,of connecter sockets of this character.

operation, whereby.my invention may be practiced, will be apparent more fully hereinafter, when taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, wherein Fig. 1 isa perspective view of an assembled connecter socket embodying my invention; A

Fig. 2 is a similar view of one of the parts of the housing with the socket contact members in position; v

Figs. 3, 4 and 5 are enlarged detail, perspective views of the parts of one of the contact members;

Figs. 6 and 7 are transverse sectional views' lcomprising the two halves 3 and 4 each of which is identical in size, shape and construction. Eachbf .the halves has a pair of parallel spaced longitudinal contact member receiving recesses 5 the central portions of which are deeper than'the side edges and the outer ends of these recesses communicate with notches of the same general outline but smaller in cross section so that when the two halves of the Acasing are placed together said notches produce 'restricted mouths 6 leading to the recesses. The recesses 5 each communicate by means of a recess neck 7 with a chamber 8 in which rest the heads of the socket contact members while from this chamber project the screw receiving cavities 9. A

and is-provided with diverging branches 11 leading to and communicating with each of the chambers 8 and the main portion or trunk of this recess is enlarged intermediate its ends toproduce a spring receiving channel 12 which acts as a seat fora portion of the ordinary spring (not shown) used on lead wires frustoconical vent opening 13 is formed in each half so as to communicate with lthe recess 10 while straight bore vent openings 14 are formed in each half in the region of the recesses 5 thelatter being preferably two in number for eachy recess. The larger diameter of the vent openings 13 is on the i side of the housing member thus providing a arge venti.- lating area in the interior without decreasing the strength of said housing. member on its W'ithin each'oflthe recesses 5 is located a socketcontactgmember 15 approximating a parallelogram in cross section as shown in Fig. 7, each of said socket contact members being slightly smaller than the recesses which they occupy so as to permit slight movements thereof for the reception of complementary contact members or terminals having varying distances between centers.

Each of the socket contact members 15 comprises astationa ry contact element 16 consisting of a fiat body or contact section 17 having a longitudinal 'depression 18, forming, respectively, a fiat contact surface 17 and a curved contact surface 18. Parallel longitudinal side flanges or supports 19 extend upwardly from the opposite longitudinal side edges of the body 17, as shown in Fig. 4. From one end of the body projects a restricted neck 2() connected with a head 21 having side flanges 22 and an end flange 23 to iorm a nut housingin the chamber of which is located a nut 24 the threaded bore of said nut registering vor aligning with a hole 25 in the aforementioned head and from the flanges 22 are produced the segmental arcuate lips 26, while the metal between the ends of said lips and the upper portions of the flanges produce webs 27 parallel with the head 21 and so overlap the mit 24 as to pre vent the accidental withdrawal of' the same.

Coacting with the stationary element is a pair of movable elements 28, one of which is shown in Fig. 10, and each of these consists of a flat body or contact section 29 having a flat contact surface 29. Each of the contact sections 29 is provided with a side flange or support 30 along its outer edge, one end of which is bent inward as indicated at 31 so as to follow the outline of the projection 32 formed with. the body 29. and said flange or abutment 30 has a portion cut away to form a notch 33 for a purpose to be hereinafter described. From the inner edge of the body 29 projects the longitudinal parting flange 34, the parting fianges of the two movable elements engaging each other to limit the inward movements of said elements.

The side flanges or abutments 30 of the movable elements 28 are fulcrumed upon the fiangcs or abutments 19 of the stationary elenicnt 16 so that said movable elements 28 having a swinging motion (Fig. 8) similar to a hinged object about one axis approximately parallel tothe fiat contact surfaces 29 thereof, and are forced toward the stationary member as well as being held assembled Vthereon by means of the resilient member or spring 35 (Fig. 6) which is in the form of a jacket formed from a sheet of spring metal superimposed upon the stationaryvand movable elements throughout a portion of the length and conforming approximately to their combined cross sectional shape, the said resilient vmember or spring being of a length equal to lltl V the prior art.

all

avessero ient qualities so as to produce a spring action upon the movable elements which with the stationary element are formed of metal having high 'conductivity regardless of its resilient properties andthe action of this resilient member or spring` is to force the elements into positive contact with the terminal member and this spring has no independent connection with the lead wire so that it has no bearing upon the construction other than to insure a positive electrical contact between the socket contact member and the complementary terminaln lWhen terminals, regardless of theirl shape are insertedf between the elements of the socket contact member the movable elements will be opened parallel to the axis of the teru minal throughout their entire length so that both of the movable elements and the stationary element will make a positive electrical contact throughout their entire length.

`While l have shown only one form of embodiment of my invention, for the purpose 4of`describing the same and illustrating its principles of construction and operation, it is apparent that various changes and modifications may be 'made therein, without departing from the spirit of my inventionu ll de sire, therefore, that only such limitations shall be imposed thereon as are indicated in the appended claims or as are demanded by Having thus fully described my invention, what ll claim as new and useful is l. A jack-receiving socket, one side of which comprises a stationary contact element having flanges respectively positioned on opposite sides, another sidetof said socket having a pair of floating non-bending Contact elements respectively provided with flanges positioned in close proximity to said firstmentioned flanges, and means for resiliently securing said contact elements in operative relation.

2. A socket comprising an elongated contact element having side flanges and a base portion adapted to engage a plug element of one form, a pair'of contact elements positioned opposite to said base portion and provided with flanges respectively engaging said first-mentioned flanges, and a spring for holding said elements in assembled position, the adjacent 'edges of said pair of elements being separated substantially equally at all' points when a plug is inserted in said socket.

3. A plug-receiving socket comprising a body having longitudinal flanges at the opposite side edges, movable elements having notched'flanges on the outer edges thereof and parting flanges along the inner edges, said movable elements being fulcrumed on the stationary element with their flanges overlapping the flanges of said stationary element, and a spring positionedfin said notches for resiliently holding said elements .in their assembled positions;

4. A socket contact comprising a stationary element having a main body portion and a projecting neck portion, flanges on the outer edgesof said neck and body portions, a pair of bodily movable contact elements cooperating with said stationary contact element having side flanges formed complementary to the danges of said stationary element, and resilient means for swingingly mounting said movable elements with the flangesthereof respectively ovprlapping the flanges of said stationary element.

5.l ln a jack-receiving socket, a plurality of independent fullfloating, non-bending contact yelements having elongated contact surfaces, at least one of said elements being freely movable with respect to another, and resilient means for uniting said elements with their contact surfaces substantially parallel, said means engaging at least one of said elements at a point intermediate the ends of its contact surface whereby said elements ,are relatively self-adjustable into positions parallel to the axis of a jack inserted longiindependent full-floating, non-bending con'- 4 tact elements having elongated contact sur-v faces, and resilient uniting means engaging said elements in circumferential relation in termediate the ends of their contact surfaces whereby said elements arev relatively selfad justableA into positions parallel to the axis of a jack inserted longitudinally between the contact surfaces,

7. In a jack-'receiving socket, a plurality of independent, non-bending contact elements having elongated contact sections, atleast one of said elements being full-floating with respect to an opposed element, and resilient means for uniting'said elements, said means engaging' said full-floating element intermediate the ends of its contact surface whereby the elements are relatively self-adjustable tc positions engaging with substantially uniform pressure throughouttheir lengths inserted jacks of different cross sectional dimensions.

In testimony whereof, Ihave hereunto affixed my signature. l y 'THEODIORE C. SMITH. 

